Long Nights are the Hardest
by pvarano18
Summary: Korra struggles with the late stages of pregnancy and loneliness creeps in. Makorra. AU. One shot


**AN: **My stab at a Makorra pregnancy fic. Enjoy

* * *

She rolled over trying to get comfortable but the little one was not having it. She moaned in discomfort and just stared at the ceiling longing to get some sleep. She wanted to blame it on the fact that she was now sleeping for two but part of it was the fact that he wasn't home yet. He said that he was going to be home early but that was 2 hours ago. She had learned to not hold it against him except on nights like these. She sat up bringing her hand to her mouth dry heaving for a moment. She got up and walked to the bathroom in an attempt to brace for the nausea that she felt coming on. This was the worst part of the pregnancy but it would be over soon. After she was done with her bout of sickness she gulped down some cold water, trying to erase the taste in her mouth. She looked up in the mirror and noticed how tired she looked. She definitely wasn't the same Avatar she once was but that didn't matter as much anymore. The day she found out that the two were pregnant came as a shock.

_She checked the test one more time, at this point she starred at it trying to some how change it with her mind. She wasn't shocked to say the least, they had been trying for a while, but when it becomes a reality she was still taken aback. She strolled out to the living room contemplating on how to tell him. Who was she kidding? She was Korra, the loud mouth brash Avatar. She walked past him and tossed the test nonchalantly on the book he was reading without looking at him. She fought the idea of just jumping on him with glee. That wasn't how the Avatar did things. At first he thought she was baiting him into a fight and then he read the test. He looked at her, back down at the test and then back at her and her smug grin. He leaped from the chair and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her in tight to his body planting his lips on hers. He was thrilled. _

She walked out of the room holding her back a little because it was starting to pain her again.

"Mako where are you when I need you?" she asked to her invisible husband. She sat on their bed and slowly brought her 'boyfriend' pillow to her chest. She could feel the tears start to form at the corner of her eyes. Great! Now she was starting to get the rush of different hormones. She wasn't mad about her situation, she loved the fact that the two finally were able to get pregnant. She was upset that he wasn't around much recently. She rolled on her side her eyes focused on the dim light showing through the slit of the bathroom door. She felt her eyes get heavy, drowsiness starting to set in.

**/~~~~~~\ **

Her eyes slowly opened as she felt the baby getting annoyed of the position she was in. She attempted to roll over but felt two strong arms wrapped around her chest and the other she was resting her head on. They clung to her as if they were afraid to let go, she felt as if they were there to protect her. The arm from her chest lifted up and allowed her to roll over to face him. His eyes were just open enough so that she could see that he was awake.

"Hey" she said pushing the stray hairs off of his forehead. She licked her lips feeling the chapped affects of dehydration. He reached over to his bedside table grabbing the glass of water he had brought in with him. She grabbed it from him and devoured it in a matter of seconds.

"Hey" he replied once she had settled back in. He took two fingers and moved up softly moving her locks out of her eyes. No matter what he was going through those blue eyes always brought a sense of peace but those eyes always seemed tired as of late. She was nearing the end of the pregnancy and the baby was do within the next two weeks.

"You came home so late" she said matter-of-factly. He kept his gaze on her as her eyes pierced him. He let it pass, he dare not make her upset.

"I know. I'm sorry. I tried to get off as soon as I could. " he said apologetically. She intertwined her fingers with his as an acceptance to his apology. He brought it to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand softly. She nuzzled her forehead against his. Just touching him brought her comfort now more than it had before. Her eyes checked the clock like they usually did this time at night, allowing her the agony of seeing how much time was left. _2:30 am_

"What time did you get home?" she said in a exhausted whisper while nestling her head into the crook of his neck, its favorite spot when she slept. She felt his head slowly rest next to hers. She took in a few deep breaths of his sent to make sure she could get her fill of him before he had to leave.

"About an hour ago" he said with a yawn using his free hand to rub his weary eyes. She sighed. He had to be back up soon.

"Great so I only get you for a couple hours" she whined starting to get upset. This is what she hated about him being to married to the job. Why couldn't he get pregnant and go through all this so she could go back to Avatar duty? Why was she the only one who had to struggle? Why was he putting his job first before her and the baby. She felt her face get flushed as her eyes starred into his with the same piercing glare from moments ago. She huffed and rolled over to his side when he didn't answer right away. He let her brood for a minute and get it out of her system. What he wasn't look for was the sniffling he heard coming from her side of the bed. He brought his arm around her chest and the other around her swollen stomach and rubbed it hoping to feel the wonderful kick of his baby girl.

"This has been hard Mako" she said wiping a tear away from her nose. She didn't face him, she didn't want to show her weakness. He just sat there in silence and listened.

"These past few weeks I've needed you. How are we supposed to hang on when the baby comes? I've never seen you work so much." she said sniffling. He felt his arms tighen their grip around her. He could protect from the physical roadblocks, but the mental ones? He had to let her wrestle through them herself even though it cut him to his core to do so.

"I can't...I can't do this alone" she finally let out what had been bothering her.

He kissed the back of her neck and nuzzled up to her ear so that he was just centimeters from it.

"I got the next couple months off" he said gently, rubbing her stomach waiting to gauge her reaction. No response

"That's why I've been working so much recently. I wanted to get ahead on all my casework so I could be here over these next few months. I want to make sure you're taken care of. Lin understands and allowed me to get an extra month of maternity leave if I finished everything" he finished saying as he let go of the phantom breath he had held in, waiting to see what she would do next. He wouldn't blame her if she got upset. Carrying a child was something he could never understand nor relate to. That's why he never pushed her to her limit and when she was upset he would just listen.

To his surprise he felt her sigh as if a large weight had been lifted off her, he felt her smile. She couldn't believe it. After all her doubts and her frustration, he had just been getting things settled so he could make sure she was taken care of, so that the both of them could be taken care of. She didn't thank him because he knew that this was expected of him, what he expected from himself. He had the parental instincts from the outset of their relationship due to what he went through with Bolin. Even though he would come in at late hours of the night he always made sure she had fresh water, the bathroom was clean, her feet massaged and he always knew the right time to hold her. The latter made her wonder if he had memorized her sleeping patterns, which would make sense given his personality. She reached a hand up and grabbed around his forearm and the other trailed down his scarred arm joining him on her belly. She melted in to him as she let sleep take her back to is comforting depths, safe in his arms once more.

Maybe he was here when she needed him after all.


End file.
